Why this first-time protester marched with PEGIDA in Birmingham

(Jack Buckby is Press Officer for PEGIDA UK and Liberty GB, but the February 6 PEGIDA rally in Birmingham, England was the first protest he'd ever attended. This is his account of the event.)

On the 6th February, 15 countries across Europe and beyond demonstrated simultaneously against the mass influx of radical Muslims from the Middle East and Africa.

Under the umbrella group Fortress Europe, announced only in recent weeks, patriots from across Europe, and even in Australia, gathered to protest.

Fortress Europe came about as a result of Tommy Robinson, a counter jihad political activist here in the UK, working with leaders of PEGIDA across Europe to form an international network. PEGIDA, a German acronym for "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West," was formed in Dresden, Germany, in 2014 as a response to the migrant crisis.

On the 4th January, Mr Robinson joined forces with secularist and chairwoman of Sharia Watch, Anne Marie Waters, and chairman of the political party Liberty GB, Paul Weston, at a press conference near Luton to announce the rally's leadership team:

The February 6th demo was the first unified Pan-European demonstration. Here in the UK, 400 people marched silently and peacefully despite heavy rain and gale force winds. Five thousand gathered in Dresden, 1,500 met in Prague, and thousands of others met throughout the continent and Australia.

Families, Britons, immigrants, conservatives, liberals and people of all ages marched silently through the pouring rain in Birmingham, England, dispelling the assertions from the press that the group is "far right" and violent. The only arrest made in the United Kingdom was a 39-year-old "anti-fascist" counter protester from East London.

Being inside the protest was bizarre. Despite having stood for election, managed campaigns and handled press communications, I had never until Saturday actually attended a large protest. In years gone by, as a working class person who has seen the destruction of our communities by forced multiculturalist policy and social engineering, I had been tempted. However, the violence that has always erupted as a result of communist and far left activists had always put me off.

Nothing of the sort was seen or heard at the PEGIDA UK demonstration.

The police did a fine job keeping away violent communists, and by marching through an isolated part of the city, PEGIDA made a point without disrupting local businesses or appearing confrontational.

We walked from Birmingham International Railway Station towards an isolated industrial park, in truly British weather. Soaked to the bone, I walked at the front of the protest with PEGIDA’s three leaders, holding a banner (which I had in fact designed) that stated "Protect Freedom. Reject Hate." This not only sums up PEGIDA’s message, but the atmosphere on the day. Every single person in attendance was thoroughly polite, friendly and a joy to spend time with.

PEGIDA even managed to attract people who had never had any political involvement in their lives, and who had never attended any protests. Given that counter-jihad demonstration of the past often ended in violence and mass conflict, this really was quite an achievement, and a sign that the silent march strategy works.

PEGIDA is showing Britain and the world that opposing the fascism, authoritarianism, rape, murder and terror that comes with radical and political Islam is neither racist or bigoted. We are the civilised people of Europe and we will not just stand by.

The 400-strong crowd soon arrived at an empty industrial park to hear the final speeches. We were met by a stage and the sound of the official PEGIDA single – a track which recently overtook Adele on the Amazon music charts.

As well as Paul Weston, Anne Marie Waters and Tommy Robinson, we heard from Mohammed Fiaz, a Pakistani apostate. He flew the flag of Pakistan during the speech, not to support the actions of Pakistan’s leaders, but to show solidarity with non-Muslims from the nation. Fiaz made it clear that better support needs to be provided to Muslims who are too scared to leave Islam in the UK, where 36% of young Muslims believe apostates should be punished by death.

Anne Marie Waters had three words to say to the British government – “protect your people”. The well-known activist, who was forced to shut down a Draw Mohammed exhibition last year, went on to demand that the media tell the truth, and predicted that they would inaccurately report on the march. She was right.

The Guardian, Sky News and a host of other news websites claimed that the PEGIDA UK demonstration was a "washout" with "low turnout," suggesting between 120 and 200 supporters came. Videos released by Russia Today and a host of YouTube users, however, show crowds of well over 400.

Paul Weston, the leader of PEGIDA UK, compared the ideology of political Islam with Nazism:

Weston, who has arrested in 2014 for quoting Winston Churchill, went on to praise and thank everyone for coming along. He also spoke about the media, and said:

“They are going to see that we are civilised people doing it the right way. And the next meeting we have, we are going to have double or treble the number we have here”.

The PEGIDA UK leader went later said that at the end of this year, he wants to see 100,000 people protesting on the streets of Europe – a rallying call which was met with cheers and applause.

This could be the start of something truly huge. PEGIDA Dresden started with a small fraction of Saturday’s turnout in Britain, but less than a year later, broke its own records with 25,000 people in attendance.

If all this fails however, and Europe cannot be saved, Canada must at least learn from our mistakes. Mass migration of people from nations with vastly different ideals to our own does not work. Importing millions of fake refugees who have travelled through numerous safe countries to reach you is a dangerous, negligent and criminal. Allowing Saudi Arabia to fund mosques and allowing radical Muslims to self-segregate and create ghettos will destroy your communities and put your children at risk.

ABOUT JACK BUCKBYJack Buckby is a former student of politics who was removed from university for refusing to abide by politically correct school rules, and for calling out lecturer Dr Leon Moosavi for attempting to justify the murder of soldier Lee Rigby. In an article on the University of Liverpool website, Dr Moosavi claimed that the attack was legitimate "dissent" against UK foreign policy.

As a paleoconservative and a culturist, Jack promotes individual liberty and national autonomy, and believes that the United States and Canada are in a position to use their size and power to begin the restoration of Western civilisation.He writes about culturism and Islam, and is the Press Officer for PEGIDA UK and Liberty GB. You can follow Jack at @jackbuckby.

Ron Voss
I agree with you, when it comes to immigrants & Canadian culture the conservatives are not better than liberals. They all want to somehow favour & placate the new immigrants, we can’t expect much from any of them. That’s why I mentioned in my first post we need a ‘Non-Political’ organization to stop islamization (and overall destruction) of Canada. Politicians are power hungry & too greedy to lead any such organization for them country means it’s voter and it’s culture means power to rule. Their vision is restricted to parliament hill. Sadly we don’t have personalities like Benjamin Disraeli, Winston Churchill or Enoch Powell among us anymore.

KARANSINGH, Chareleton G and Deborah Graupner, “The question is from where to start & how?? We will need a powerful leader & speaker too, who could counter this multicultural BS & creeping islamisation of Canada with facts not emotions on national level.” Sadly, I see no such powerful leader in sight. Even our so-called ‘conservative’ parties, like the federal Conservative Party and Alberta’s Wildrose Party have bowed and succumbed to ‘political correctness’, thereby yielding ground to the ‘progressives’ who propagate the ‘political correctness’.

Charleton G and Deborah Graupner,
The question is from where to start & how?? We will need a powerful leader & speaker too, who could counter this multicultural BS & creeping islamisation of Canada with facts not emotions on national level.
It breaks my hear to see the Canada I migrated to breaking apart under the burden of multiculturalism. It’s not only mohammedans who are destroying Canada, although they are the foremost & the most dangerous of all, I see immigrants from all ethnicities (including my own community) contributing a bit at a time in destruction of Canadian values & culture. Canadians of western European heritage don’t have first hand experience of dealing with the immigrants from third world countries they simply don’t understand their mentality or cunningness. It’s like every new arrival in this country wants a share of Canadian pie without contributing anything into it. It’s not ‘The More The Merrier’ anymore it is "The More The Drear’ now a days.
Yes, it’s true, for the argument sake, that many of the immigrants are employed & pay taxes and raise their families in Canada but I ask is that all we want from an immigrant? What about his/her contribution to this society to it’s values, who is going to preserve it’s heritage?

PETERNETTERVILLE, “Why is the mainstream media so very dishonest?” Peter, that’s easy to answer; because they are left wing! Remember that for the left, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ The cultural Marxists, or so-called ‘progressives’, and the supremacist, totalitarian Islamists have a common enemy.

Counting frame by frame on this video I was able to count 350+ demonstrators, apparently msm is outrightly lying.
I think we Canadians should start a non-political Canadian version of PEGIDA before it’s too late.

One would think that protecting free speech would be the first and primary thing championed by the media because that is the primary reason for the media to exist, but they are actively subverting free speech both here is Canada and all over the free Western world, especially as it pertains to Islam and free speech issues.

Fraser McBurney is correct when he said, "Notice how peacefully they marched through the streets no stone throwing no tire tyre burning no window breaking no fires no screaming no chanting no cat calls and no rioting. Not like we’re used to from the left .. "

This has always been the main and obvious difference between demonstrations from right wing groups vs. demonstrations from left wing groups … on any issue. The right is responsible, peaceful, and respectful. The left is violent, hateful, and full of disrespect. Yet, the media always portrays the left demonstrations in a favorable light and the right as fascists and hate mongers. Why is the main stream media so very dishonest?

Notice how peacefully they marched through the streets no stone throwing no tire tyre burning no window breaking no fires no screaming no chanting no cat calls and no rioting. Not like we’re used to from the left .. Just every day people trying to get their government to listen to the dangers of radical Islam and to stop the import of these 7 th century through backs. The main stream and government media have let down the people of the FREEWORLD. Protect free speech or loose it fight for the right of free speech.